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Illinois District Office Leadership Biographies

Illinois District Office Leadership Biographies

District Director

Robert “Bo” Steiner is the District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, Illinois District Office. Bo joined the SBA in February 2013 and is responsible for managing the day to day and strategic activities for the Illinois District office and Springfield Branch Office ensuring the delivery of SBA products and services to its customers and stakeholders.

Bo joined the SBA after serving with the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service for over two years. With the FPS, he managed the development and execution of FPS Region 5 $68M budget while overseeing all human capital, logistics, procurement, and support activities for over 115 staff and contract employees. Prior to joining the Federal Protective Service, Bo working for eight years in private industry and over ten years in the U.S. Navy.

Mr. Steiner’s career began as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Upon graduation from flight training as a helicopter pilot in December 1994, He deployed twice to the Persian Gulf operating from the aircraft carriers Lincoln and Kitty Hawk in support of the no fly zone over Iraq. In addition to his flight duties, he managed maintenance and operations activities. After his second deployment, Bo transitioned to a training squadron where he trained pilots and aircrew on the operation and employment the Seahawk helicopter.

In 2000, he left active duty, remaining in the reserves with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Five. As a member of this unit, he was recalled to active duty in 2003 and deployed to Kuwait and Iraq, flying special operations combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After completing his term of active duty, he left active duty as a Lieutenant Commander.

In 2004, Bo transitioned to the private sector, working in sales and marketing roles for Stryker, a broadly based medical device company. There he led the development and rollout of new products and services that supported a wide range of surgical procedures. In 2007, he transitioned to DMX, a national provider of commercial media services and low voltage system integrator. With DMX, He took on an operational management position as Regional General Manager and VP of Operations for the ten-state Midwest region where he provided executive leadership and tactical direction for 50 personnel servicing over 14,000 customer locations. In this role he directed the sales, operations, financial and human capital activities, driving process improvement initiatives that created operational efficiencies and increased profitability.

Bo is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. In addition, he graduated from the Naval Flight Training program, earning the designation of Naval Aviator as a rotary wing pilot.

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